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Fig. 1543. A genuine breastplate of the XVIth century

Etched about 1870 by Italian workmen

Fig. 1544. Helmet

Composed of pieces, some genuine and some modern, decorated and gilded in the XIXth century, about 1870, by Italian workmen

As may be imagined, it is hard to locate the actual provenance, if we may be allowed to use the term, of the greater number of the forged suits of armour that flooded the market in the seventies and eighties of the XIXth century. The author has thought that he could, from certain methods employed in the manufacture and in the ageing processes, associate particular forgeries with individual places. It may be suggested, of course, that this is little better than guesswork; for very naturally the makers and certainly the vendors would hardly be prepared to disclose the origin of a mock suit or piece of armour. But just as in the case of genuine arms and armour he thinks that he has succeeded, owing to the style of the work, in recognizing and in grouping together the productions of certain armourers whose names are unknown to him, so he has managed to class together certain makers of forgeries, and by a process of comparison has been enabled to assign these fabrications to the probable place of their manufacture. By this means he has succeeded in tracing mid-XIXth century forgeries to Nuremberg, Munich, Innsbrück, Solingen, Lucerne, Brussels, Paris, and to several parts of Italy. The fabrication of false armour, more especially of complete suits,